History of elevators in Indonesia
This page contains a brief history of elevators in Indonesia. Due to a lack of elevator history and record in Indonesia, information provided in this page is very limited and therefore it desperately need more information, whether in publications or online sites. However, it is strongly adviced that the information must be reliable, proven and creditable. 1990's - 1910's (Colonial era) London Sumatra elevator - the first elevator in Indonesia (1908) It is believed that the first elevator in Indonesia was installed in 1908, in the London Sumatra (Lonsum) Building in Medan, North Sumatra. It is also said to be the first electric elevator installed in the city. According to an April 2016 Kompas newspaper article (see photo attached on this section), the elevator was manufactured by R. Waygood & Co. from London, England, an elevator manufacturer founded in 1833 by Richard Waygood and was acquired by Otis in 1914. It still exists as of today today, and still manually controlled. It is also said that the current elevator operator have been operating this historic elevator since 1986. Very little has changed in this elevator. With an age of 110 years right now, it is now considered to be the oldest elevator still operating in Indonesia. Jiwasraya Building (Semarang) elevator (1917) In 1917, an elevator of what appears to be the oldest Otis elevator found in Indonesia so far was installed in the Jiwasraya Building in Semarang. It is a gated, manually-controlled elevator from 1917 according to some sources. Sadly it has stopped working since in the 1970's. It is unknown if this elevator still exists today. It is highly believed that the elevator was not directly installed by Otis, but rather by a local company called Fred Stieltjes & Co., as Otis did not started its business in the country until at least 1992. The story of this elevator can be read here (article written in Bahasa Indonesia). 1960's - 1990's Very little information of elevators in Indonesia is known after World War II. In 1961-1962, in preparation for the 4th Asian Games that would be hosted in Jakarta in 1962, Otis installed elevators in Hotel Indonesia, which was built by architect Abel Sorensen. It is not known when the original 1960's elevators were replaced but it is speculated that they were replaced sometime in the 1980's or 1990's. In 2008-2009, the elevators were replaced again by Otis when the hotel was being renovated before it reopened as Hotel Indonesia Kempinski. Many believes that the elevators in this hotel were the first elevator installed in Indonesia. However, this is completely wrong. In fact there were a few elevators which were installed long before Hotel Indonesia was completed, such as the antique elevator at the London Sumatra Building in Medan (1908) or the Jiwasraya Building elevator in Semarang (1917). It is believed that the first destination dispatch elevator system in Indonesia was installed in 1992 by Schindler, in either Menara Mulia or Graha Aktiva in Jakarta. The elevator system is a Schindler "Miconic 10".